Japan and their New Government

READ Strayer, p. 577-580.
WRITE a blog post in which you explain how the reading altered or added to your document-based theory from class.

Though the Japanese were influenced by western civilization, they were still able to maintain a strong center of national pride, which was certainly justified by their previous accomplishments.

This was our class document theory, which I still agree with even after reading about the many conflicts the Japanese had within their country. For example, the four hierarchically ranked status groups, which were the 1. Samurai 2. Peasants 3. Artisans 4. Merchants, all resented their positions. The samurai’s were in debt to the inferior merchants and the peasants were always looked down upon even when they started engaging in manufacturing enterprises and were starting to use modern innovations. Eventually, there were peasant uprisings and riots that expressed the injustices of the poor. They first wanted to punish the officials and execute the rich merchants, then distribute the gold, silver, copper, and rice hidden in their storehouses. Interestingly enough, the people of Japan actually became stronger after the “rebellions”. The Japanese gained a sense of a fair government for once, which is similar to the French Revolution. The only difference between the Japanese and the French Revolution was that there was no Terror that took place in Japan after the punishment of the officials. They did not only maintain a strong center of national pride, they gained nationalism within their country and became whole.